BMKT 161
Strategic Marketing Plan
Joanee Charley
Tuesday April 9, 2013
Richard DiSpirito
Felix Cho
Mike Holland
Lauren Storoschuk
Michael Minicucci
1. Executive Summary:
This strategic marketing plan provides the steps necessary for Platinum Fitness to
enter the Vancouver health and wellness market. The plan starts by assessing the
measures needed in the strategic focus and planning phase including the mission
statement, corporate goals, and core competency and sustainable competitive advantage.
The next step in the plan would be to conduct a situation analysis to analyze
environmental and consumer behavior by using a SWOT analysis. Next, this plan will
develop the core marketing and product objectives including the target markets, points of
difference, and market/brand positioning. The most crucial element of this plan will be in
developing a marketing program for the business. This will include the product strategy,
pricing strategy, distribution strategy, and the promotional strategy. A detailed
description of the product/service components, as well as quarterly target revenue
projections will show how this business can breakthrough in this industry. The last two
steps in this strategic marketing plan will describe a feasible budget implementation
system as well as evaluation and control of our marketing plan. The overall goal of this
strategic marketing plan is to successfully bring the goals of Platinum Fitness and their
business model into the marketplace.
2. Strategic Focus and Plan
A. Mission statement
Our mission at platinum fitness is to provide high quality service and help achieve
your fitness goals through a personal approach.
B. Corporate Goals
a. Increase brand awareness: Our company wants to increase the number of
potential customers and place the idea that our physical fitness center
wants to help the customer and help them achieve the results they are
looking for. We also want our logo to become more noticeable and be
associated with good customer service and helpfulness
b. Increase customer satisfaction: At platinum fitness, we understand that
the customer is the most important part of the business. Because of this we
want to ensure our customers are satisfied and being treated well. To
attain this goal we will constantly try to improve customer relations and
the speed in which we can solve the customer’s problems.
c. Introduce more methods of working out: At platinum fitness we want to
help the customer attain their goals in the best ways possible. To make this
easier our personal trainers will keep in the loop of all the best ways to
help customers work out, even suggesting different training routines and
adapting old common methods.
3. SWOT Analysis
Strengths:
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Open atmosphere where clients can
achieve their fitness goals in a way that
best fits them
Trainers available for assistance or
private sessions
With smoothies available clients can get
desired protein and nutrients before or
after their workout
Weaknesses:


Lots of competitors in the area
Lots of other sports drinks and nutritional
snacks available at other stores for cheaper
Opportunities:



Threats:
Lots of other gyms in the area however
very few offer the full package of a great
facility, service and refreshments
Vancouver’s healthy lifestyle trend is
expanding and more gyms are needed
Eventually if we get a good clientel we
could expand our business

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High start up costs and other costs to keep
the gym open
Lots of competitors
4. Marketing and Product Objectives
A. Objectives
a. Increase Efficiency: In the first year as we are just starting our business
we are going to be far less efficient as our staff learn their roles in working
at the fitness center. Our objective is to increase our efficiency when
interacting with the customer so we spend less time talking and more time
working with the customer to achieve their fitness goals by 25%. This
25% of time saved will reinforce the idea that our staff knows what they
are doing, and leave the customer feel comfortable that their fitness goals
can be attained.
b. Increase the number of new customers: This is especially important as we
are specifically targeting teens that are just starting to work out for the first
time. Our company hopes to increase the number of customers by 30%
after the first four months of opening while still delivering a personal,
relatable, service.
c. Increase market penetration: With there being several physical fitness
centers on the North Shore we hope to attract some of the other physical
fitness center’s customers by offering a more informative and personal
service. Our objective is to be recognized by the community within a year
as a respectable fitness center that anyone can attend and not feel
overwhelmed with the fitness goals they want to achieve.
B. Target Markets:
Our main target market is those people who are between the ages of 15 and their
late 20’s. To effectively reach this target market, we will offer a special student
pricing option which will be cheaper than a standard membership as well as gear
some of of advertising to this specific market segment.
C. Points of Difference:
What will separate our physical fitness center from the other smaller gyms in the
area is the attached juice bar to our center, which will attract more customers as
after working out, a nice juice beverage, can be very refreshing. In order to
separate ourselves from the government funded recreation centers will be the
more personal and informative approach that we will take with customers for
example, having a personal trainer to provide advice and help set goals.
D. Positioning:
For individuals who want to start working out for the first time or for individuals
who are returning to working out, our physical fitness center will help anyone
reach their goals and will work with the customer to provide the best experience
possible. Unlike other smaller gyms our physical fitness center will have an
attached juice bar and a supplement store which will can help make anyone’s
workout better. Unlike the other larger gyms our physical fitness center will work
with the customer on a personal level providing personal trainers to providing
advice on diet or fitness goals.
Core Competency and Sustainable Competitive Advantage
 Exercise equipments with latest technology
New equipments and the fact that this fitness center is new will attract
people. Since its new, people will come to use comparatively clean
equipments.
 Stand by Advisors/Coaches
A lot of private fitness centers have training coach/advisors. It is essential
to have professionals within the fitness center to guide people to use
equipments in right way and possibly prevent any injuries people may have.
Not having them will force the fitness center to lose the competition.
 Healthy Organic vegetable/fruit juice bar
By having a juice bar with a small children area, it will give very nice
impression to mothers who are willing to come to the fitness center but
simply not having time because of a young child. Also, customers won't have
to bother going out of the fitness center to buy their drinks.
5. Marketing Program
a. product strategy
i. Detailed description of product/service components
The Fitness center will provide the following contents to the members.
 Full access to the exercise equipments
-Latest high tech exercise equipments with detailed instruction manual for
those who need them.
-There are recommended equipment use course set for beginners,
intermediate and advanced users.
 Training coaches standing by willing to help you
-Free access to Group stretching lesson and Basic Yoga lesson
-For an individual coaching or lesson -First Aid trained coaches will
provide extra safety for the members
 Healthy Organic vegetable/fruit juice bar
-Daily changed fresh organic juices are available at the juice bar.
-However, no food and beverage other then water is to be taken near the
equipments
-Simple child play area will give very nice impression to mothers not
having time to go to the fitness center.
 Light meals
-Vegetable/Fruit juice bar will also provide light meals such as salads, low
calorie wraps, sandwiches and more.
 Store
-Members can buy clothes, towel, exercise mattress, water bottles and
essential exercise items. These items will be from the companies that have high
brand value and good reputation. It's to borrow their reputation to the new fitness
center to give trust to the customers.
ii.
Branding
This is a character of the fitness center to differentiate from the competing private
fitness centers. The figure's body is shaped in upside down water droplet to show water is
taking approximately 60% of human body. At the same time, a triangular shape is drawn
across it's chest to show built up muscle which most of the young people are aiming to
have in the fitness center. The left red arm represent the healthy oxygen rich blood within
the human body and right orange arm represent the fat which most of the people are
trying to lose but at the same time, blood, muscle, and fat take most of the human body
and are essential in living.
b. Pricing Strategy
i. Pricing factors considered
Given the high cost of entry into the fitness industry, pricing will need to be
aggressive in the first 12 months. Some factors considered would be to include a student
level pricing to attract new customers as well as awarding loyalty rewards to customers
who purchase a long-term membership at the gym. Monthly charges would be the best
strategy to maintain growth as well as a steady stream of revenue. There will be 3 main
membership options: the first will be unlimited monthly drop-ins that will cost $200 on a
month-to-month basis. 6 month memberships will cost $190 and a 12 month membership
will be $175. The next option will be a student rate that will require a 6 month
membership purchase, however the month-to-month rate will be $99. The reason for the
steeply discounted student rate is that we will attract many younger people in our target
audience. The last option will be drop-in classes that will be $25 a class. Police,
firefighters, military, and ambulance personnel will receive a 25% discount on any
membership (except drop-ins).
MEMBERSHIP OPTIONS:
Unlimited Classes:
Month-To-Month – $200.00
6 Month Membership – $175.00 paid monthly
12 Month Membership – $150.00 paid monthly
Student Rate:
6 Month Membership – $99.00 paid monthly
Police, Fire Fighter, Military, Ambulance:
25% Discount
Drop-In
$25.00 incl. tax/class
ii.
Pricing objective
The main objective with our pricing is to attract long term customers who we will be
able to interact with one on one to create a relationship with the brand. Included in these
memberships will be access to the nutritional section of our gym. A key element of
fitness and your well-being is nutrition, and this aspect is usually left out from most
fitness centers. Having an expert nutritionist on hand as well as a healthy eating bar to
lounge with fellow members, allows customers to interact with eachother as well as
maintain brand loyalty. We believe that with this pricing strategy, we will be able to
attract the appropriate market and customer base for our business.
iii.
Quarterly target revenue projections for the first year
Because this is a local business, demographics and population size in BC are limited
only to the size of the community we are located in. When we start our business we
would most likely be located in West Vancouver. The reason is that the community is in
the highest income bracket in Canada, and the location is outstanding. Total population as
of 2011 in the city of Vancouver is 603,502, which makes our market quite large. This is
a small business with less than 10 employees, which limits the amount of memberships
we can acquire. The first few months of running will be focused on acquiring loyal
customers. Our revenue projections would look like this:
Monthly Revenue Projections
$12,000
$10,000
$8,000
$6,000
$4,000
Revenue
$2,000
$0
These projections are based on the fact that in the first couple months, people may not
be buying long-term memberships quite yet. They will most likely be purchasing the $25
drop in class until they determine whether they like the gym or not. After about the 4th
month we predict that revenue will increase because of student memberships and 12month membership pricing. Total revenue for the first year is expected to be around
$62,990 and based on starting costs of $100,000 there will be a loss of $37,010. This is
not uncommon in the first year of operations of a small business. Being that the main
pricing goal in the first 12 months is to attract long-term customers, year 2 projections
should almost double year 1 revenue.
iv.
Nutrition shop and merchandise pricing
Nutrition Shop:
The prices will be fairly conservative as access to the nutrition shop is included in
customer memberships. Shakes and snacks will vary in price from $1-$6. On the more
expensive end will be the shakes that require certain types of supplements like protein
powder and vegetable juicing. On the lower end would be nutritional bars provided by
our nutritionist. The nutritionist can be hired for private lessons in nutrition, and also go
to the customer’s house to organize meals. The gym will take a 30% commission on
private lessons sold from the nutritionists and trainers as they are using our facilities. This
is to encourage the hiring of local employees as well as stimulating the local economy.
Merchandise:
The merchandise in the store will consist of water bottles, stretching equipment, tshirts and other clothing items, as well as skipping ropes and actual gym equipment. The
prices will range based on the different levels of membership. People who commit to a
longer term (6-12 month) membership will receive a 10% discount on everything in the
gym, including the nutrition shop. This will raise the incentive for members to keep
purchasing the goods we have to offer in the gym. Pricing of the merchandise will vary
from $5 for a water bottle to $35-$50 for clothing items.
c. distribution strategy
i. Identify the channels and the factors used to choose a marketing channel
 Technogym
-Technogym is a manufacturer of fitness equipment found in Cesena,
Italy. It was founded in 1983 by Nerio Alessandri and currently, it is claimed to
be a world leader in the wellness and fitness fields. There are alternative
manufacturer, even the local manufacturer in B.C. However, because of the brand
name, customers are likely to trust equipments from Technogym manufacturer
since it is well known. In terms of pricing, it does require more money than local
market but it's brand carries value.
 Costco
-New fitness center will not require a lot of fruits or vegetables to
serve juices to customers. It would even be possible to run the juice bar by
connecting with local fruit market. However, if we were to make profit, it would
be better to acquire cheaper products with similar quality. Therefore, Wholefoods
is out of count, even thought their organic products are highly valued by most of
people and their brand name carries weight, they are far too expensive. To acquire
cheap and quality fruit and vegetable, Costco (Organic products) is recommended.
 Lulu lemon/Other Clothing, sporting equipment stores.
-The purpose of selling cloths, water bottle, towels and extra needs is not
only for customer's convenience but to borrow the name value of the famous,
people friendly company names. Just by displaying the items that have friendly,
trustworthy logo on it will boost the reputation of the fitness center since people
will get to think that those world class brands such as Nike, Addidas and lulu
lemon support this fitness center.
i.
Specific location and rationale
By researching most of the gym and fitness centers in Vancouver. It is clear that
most of them are clustered near the English Bay. It is due to the fact that the English bay
is a great tourist attraction and there are a lot of apartment buildings built along the beach
side. Since it's very close to the Stanley park, there are a lot of restaurants and floating
population nearby. Also there are multiple colleges and schools nearby, which is
important because quiet amount of young adults and teens register to the fitness centers to
build their body. It will be challenging to settle among the multiple private fitness centers
but there will be enough customers eventually.
Most of the people choose their fitness center not by their quality. Quality of the
fitness center is important but people prefer the fitness centers that are closer to where
they live or work unless there are huge quality gap in between competing fitness center.
People prefer close fitness center to pressure themselves from making excuse to not go to
the fitness centers.
d. promotional strategy
i. IMC objectives
Advertising- to advertise our company we decided to make flyers with our brand logo on
it to make it more recognizable along with all the deals we would be offering and our
address, phone number and the rest of our information. We would put these flyers up
around local high schools and hand them out at malls to teens and anyone else in our
target audience. Also we would make a 30 second low budget commercial that we would
upload to things like Facebook and Twitter with costs of around 30,000 – 40,000 dollars
which includes actors, equipment, editing and other small expenses.
Public Relations- for public relations we chose to advertise our company over social
media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. On Facebook we would set up a page
dedicated to our company with all of our information and any deals taking place. Also we
would make a Twitter account to stay connected with the community and our customers
so that they feel like they can interact with our company by giving us feedback in an easy
way. On Instagram we would show pictures of our workplace to show the good
environment we would have created.
Sales Promotion- For our sales promotion we decided to create little cards to hand out to
people which gives them a one free day pass so that they can come to our fitness center
for free and see if they enjoy it. Along with this we would offer student prices at a
discount because we know students don’t have as much time to work therefore they can
not afford a full price gym and since they are our target audience we must cater to them.
Along with this we will give our members a 10 percent discount on all merchandise and
shakes.
Event Marketing and Sponsorship- for event marketing we would like to market our
product at things like fairs and parades where they have the same target audience as us.
Also for sponsorship we were hoping to be sponsored by an equipment company to help
us afford the equipment and at the same time advertise their equipment. Also we would
like to sponsor a local sports team for example not a team as of high profile as the
Vancouver Whitecaps but instead a youth team like the West Vancouver Football Club.
Personal Selling- for personal selling we decided we would make products like water
bottles, stress balls, t-shirts and our juice samples with our logo on it and hand them out
for free to advertise our product.
ii. identify target audience
As previously stated our target market is teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19 as well
as adults in their early 20’s.
iii. allocate budget
Our promotional budget would hopefully not have to be too high. Mainly we would need
money to produce our flyers and one-day pass cards. Along with that we may need to pay
to promote our product at any events we may like to attend but because our company
would start out as just a local business not a lot of money is needed.
iv. promotional program
Our promotional program will begin by us setting up a Facebook account, Twitter
account and Instagram account. Once that is completed we will create flyers and posters
to hand out and put up around schools and recreational centers to create awareness of our
company. Next we would make one-day pass cards along with our water bottles, stress
balls, t-shirts and juice samples and hand them out at any local fairs or parades so that
teens have a greater incentive to come and try our fitness center. After that we will
continue to advertise our company mainly through social media.
v. rational for the tools selected
We chose to focus on these tools because they connect to our target market in the best
possible way. We wanted to focus on social media because our target market is mainly
teens and adults in their early 20’s. social media gives us the best way of communicating
with our target market and helps us establish a relationship with our customers better then
most ways of advertising that would be in our budget.
6. Budget
a. year 1 sales projection
As previously stated total revenue for the first year is expected to be around $62,990 and
based on starting costs of $100,000 there will be a loss of $37,010.
b. promotional budget
We have a budget of 50,000. Around 30-40 thousand of this will be allocated to making a
low budget commercial to put on the internet, 7,000 will be used to make free advertising
gifts like water bottles, stress balls and t shirts and about 500-1000 will be used to make
flyers and one day pass cards for us to hand out.
7. Evaluation and Control
Profit
Net profit will prove the success of the fitness center, if it's not making a
profit, it will be an obvious sign that the fitness center is losing in the competition.
Reputation
Reputation of anything is very important. People easily believe any
comments from their relatives or close friends and even online bloggers, therefore it
is essential to have good reputation in online articles and blogs, plus from any
customers who have visited.